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BMus Music

Academic Year 2017/18

A programme specification is required for any programme on which a student may be registered. All programmes of the University are subject to the University's Quality Assurance and Enhancement processes as set out in the DASA Policies and Procedures Manual.

Programme Title

BMus Music

Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)

Bachelor of Music

Programme Code

MUS-BM-S

UCAS Code

W302

JACS Code

W300 (DESCR) 100

Criteria for Admissions

BBB including A-level Music. Where A-level Music is not offered, A-levels in three other subjects or equivalent, plus Grade VIII Theory of Music (ABRSM, Trinity-Guildhall or LCM (not Popular Music Theory)) would be acceptable.

ATAS Clearance Required

Health Check Required

Portfolio Required

Interview Required

Mode of Study

Full Time

Type of Programme

Single Honours

Length of Programme

3 Academic Year(s)

Total Credits for Programme

360

Exit Awards available

INSTITUTE INFORMATION

Awarding Institution/Body

Queen's University Belfast

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Arts, English and Languages

Framework for Higher Education Qualification Level
www.qaa.ac.uk

Level 6

QAA Benchmark Group
www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

Music (2008)

Accreditations (PSRB)

REGULATION INFORMATION

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

None

Programme Specific Regulations

There is some flexibility on a case by case basis for students to take modules outside the Programme.
At Level 2 a student may substitute up to 20 CATS of optional modules with the equivalent number of CATS from a list of approved modules beyond those listed.
At Level 3 a student may substitute up to 20 CATS of optional modules with the equivalent number of CATS from a list of approved modules beyond those listed.

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF PROGRAMME

The Bmus degree, in accordance with the University's Mission Statement, aspires to be a broadly-based, research-driven unit with a dynamic world-class research and education portfolio and strong international connections and to promote the widest possible access to this portfolio of excellence in an environment of equality, tolerance and mutual respect, fully embracing its role in Northern Ireland and beyond. Within this context, the Batchelor of Music programme aims:

to deliver an innovative, broadly-based, flexible curriculum, in accordance with the QAA Benchmarks, that reflects the diverse field of scholarship and practice within Music;

to facilitate the study of Music through an integrated balance of practice and theory;

to attract students from local, national and international contexts through various entry routes, and to provide them with the best possible learning and teaching experience;

to provide all students with the widest possible opportunity to pursue and extend their knowledge and understanding of Music through a variety of learning methods;

to enable students to: develop advanced critical, analytical and physical skills, as well as their creative and imaginative skills; to improve their self-confidence, powers of concentration, understanding of group dynamics, and communication skills through a variety of oral, written, visual and performance media;

to introduce new areas of teaching and implement new pedagogical techniques and technologies in response to advances in scholarship technology, and educational research, student feedback, as well as the interests and aptitudes of staff members;

to enrich students' learning experience by exploring possible interdisciplinary linkages /collaborations with other cognate and non-cognate subject areas within the School;

to provide a supportive and stimulating learning environment that enables learners with a variety of entrance qualifications to fulfil their potential and develop their capacity for motivated independent learning;

to provide appropriate learning resources, including suitable facilities for live performance and to supplement library provision by exploiting the possibilities offered by online learning;

to foster mutually beneficial connections within music in order to facilitate student learning;

to embed a diverse range of generic and transferable skills in our pathways, and thus prepare students for a variety of academic and professional careers.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Engage with and evaluate a variety of sources (texts, notated scores, recorded and live performances)

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, class group-work, seminars, tutorials, workshops, concert attendance; interpreting, analysing and discussing ideas generated through class discussion and group exercises.

Methods of Assessment

Written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing, podcasts, composition portfolios, stylistic pastiche.

Understand complex issues and arguments and communicate this understanding both orally and in written form

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, class group-work, seminars, tutorials, workshops; referring to current theory and commenting on it both through oral and written work.

Methods of Assessment

Written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing, podcasts.

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Contextualise music and its history from a variety of perspectives and contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, class group-work, seminars, tutorials, workshops; forming independent views on a range of sources (notated, written, performed) and expressing them effectively through discussion and written work.

Methods of Assessment

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Work independently and as part of a team demonstrated through individual and group work (written and practical)

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Rehearsals, class group-work, workshops; balancing and managing the demands of conflicting deadlines and various types of formative and summative assessment effectively.

Methods of Assessment

Performances (particularly ensembles), written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing, podcasts, composition portfolios, stylistic pastiche.

Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

The delivery of verbal presentations within small and large group contexts develops oral communication skills while a variety of short and more extended written work on which formative and summative assessment is made develops well-structured and synthesised writing on a variety of topics.

Methods of Assessment

Performances, written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing, podcasts.

Show effective team-working and leadership skills

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Exercises within classes and tutorials which exploit teamwork – reporting back on a topic within a given timeframe and adopting a position within the team that enables the group to deliver effectively generates vital team-working and leadership experience.

Methods of Assessment

The strategy outlined here often feeds into individual methods of assessment such as those outlined above. Group-work is sometimes assessed more directly, depending on the module, through seminar presentations and contributions, ensemble performance and work placement learning journals.

Demonstrate efficient time management skills

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

The management and prioritisation of a range of assignments and course requirements together with the ongoing discipline involved in working in isolation on continual development as a musicologist, performer and/or composer develops efficiency in time management.

Methods of Assessment

All methods of assessment have submission deadlines that require time-management skills on the part of the student. With performance and composition modules, in particular, time-management is inherent in the learning process (eg attendance at rehearsals).

Learn through independent study

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

The process of independent learning is inherent in all modules within the programme (perhaps most notably in performance, but also in composition and musicology) and instilled from induction onwards. It is particularly pronounced in stage 3, when students are encouraged to undertake project-type work.

Methods of Assessment

Performances, written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing.

Demonstrate basic word processing and other IT skills

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Submission of word-processed assignments and the need to explore web-based sources develops and requires basic IT proficiency.

Methods of Assessment

Essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations (e.g. facility with PowerPoint), concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations. A facility with music processing is also a feature of all these types of assessment, plus editions of music, orchestration exercises, composition portfolios, podcasts.

Collate, evaluate and process information from a variety of sources

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

The ability to critically evaluate a variety of sources is inherent in all modules within the programme and instilled from induction onwards.

Methods of Assessment

Written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, orchestration exercises, podcasts.

Respond effectively and productively to constructive feedback on written and practical work

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

The process of managing criticism and working with feedback to improve work is encouraged throughout the programme.

Methods of Assessment

Many examples of these, e.g. dissertations that respond to feedback on written drafts; projects and written examinations that respond to feedback on essays and seminar presentations; essays, pastiche exercises, orchestration exercises that respond to feedback on class group-work; recitals that respond to feedback in performance seminar classes, etc.

Think and work creatively within a variety of contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Creative thinking is inherent in the nature of the programme. The variety of contexts means that it often takes different forms in teaching (lectures, group-work, seminars in performance platform and composition, etc.) and learning strategies (both verbal and – in composition, performance and stylistic pastiche – non-verbal).

Methods of Assessment

Performances, composition portfolios, written examinations, seminar presentations (eg answering questions), orchestration exercises, pastiche exercises, among others.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the history of Western music

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, providing a springboard for further enquiry carried out through small-group seminars, individual tutorials and feedback sessions, independent study, and seminars by visiting musicologists, performers and composers.

Methods of Assessment

Performances, composition portfolios, written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, editions of music, textual editing.

Understand the range of periods in musical history and of their political, aesthetic, social and cultural contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Demonstrate a knowledge of the output of significant composers within the Western canon including clear concepts of their individual contribution to its development and perpetuation

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Show an awareness of particular works and their composers through independent study

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Performances, written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, concert reviews, book reviews, dissertations, orchestration and arrangement exercises, pastiche exercises.

Understand and apply practically the evolving vocabulary of music across a range of periods

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Performances, written examinations, listening tests, essays, projects, concert reviews, dissertations, weekly homeworks, orchestration and arrangement exercises, pastiche exercises.

Show familiarity with a range of theoretical and practical approaches to the study of music in all its aspects

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, providing a springboard for further enquiry carried out through small-group seminars, individual tutorials and feedback sessions, independent study; seminars by visiting musicologists, performers and composers; attendance at concerts held within the School; master-classes, workshops, rehearsals and activities provided through, for example, visiting artists and the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music provide access to a variety of teaching situations.

Methods of Assessment

Performances, composition portfolios, written examinations, essays, projects, learning journals, concert reviews, dissertations, orchestration and arrangement exercises, pastiche exercises.

Demonstrate an awareness of structure, notation, orchestration and tonality within music across a range of periods

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Performances, listening tests, essays, projects, seminar presentations, dissertations, editions of music, weekly homeworks, orchestration and arrangement exercises, pastiche exercises.

Apply this knowledge practically through (where followed) performance and composition

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Master-classes, workshops, rehearsals and activities provided through, for example, visiting artists and the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music provide access to a variety of teaching situations.

Methods of Assessment

Performances, composition portfolios, orchestration and arrangement exercises.

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Critically evaluate written, notated and performed materials

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, tutorials, seminars (delivered by students and also by external professional musicologists, performers and composers; the delivery of seminars with other students and the requirement within tutorials to work in groups is inherent to the programme), independent study.

Methods of Assessment

Written exams, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, reviews, dissertations, editions.

Demonstrate an analytical and practical understanding of musical language through pastiche, written analysis, and effective performance (where studied)

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Individual and group lessons, lectures, tutorials, seminars (the delivery of seminars with other students and the requirement within tutorials to work in groups is inherent to the programme), teamwork, independent study (performers and composers required to demonstrate sustained work as individuals culminating in portfolios of original work and effectively communicated and interpreted performances).

Methods of Assessment

Recitals, class performances, written exams, essays, learning journals, class tests, pastiche exercises, keyboard harmony tests, dissertations.

Effectively apply and interpret the principles of notation and orchestration

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Individual and group lessons, lectures, tutorials, seminars (the delivery of seminars with other students and the requirement within tutorials to work in groups is inherent to the programme), team work: ensemble participation is available to all BMus students; workshops with visiting artists; independent study.

Methods of Assessment

Recitals, class performances, compositions, written exams, pastiche exercises, orchestrations, arrangements, dissertations, editions.

Understand the productive processes of preparation, rehearsal, marketing and delivering compositions and performances

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Individual and group lessons, lectures, tutorials, seminars, independent study, workshops with visiting artists, collaborations between performance and composition students.

Methods of Assessment

Recitals, class performances, compositions, podcasts.

Demonstrate a highly-developed understanding of composers and genres within broad and narrow contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Methods of Assessment

Written exams, listening tests, essays, projects, learning journals, seminar presentations, dissertations, editions.

MODULE INFORMATION

Programme Requirements

Module Title	Module Code	Level/ stage	Credits	Availability		Duration	Pre-requisite			Assessment
				S1	S2			Core	Option	Coursework %	Practical %	Examination %
Fundamental Harmony	MUS1013	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N	YES		100%	0%	0%
Solo Performance 1	MUS1017	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N		YES	20%	0%	80%
Music in History	MUS1041	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N	YES		50%	0%	50%
Introduction to Music	MUS1002	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N	YES		100%	0%	0%
Audio Mixing I	MUS1030	1	10		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Composing Music	MUS1012	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N	YES		100%	0%	0%
Introduction to Sound Synthesis	MUS1036	1	10		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Musicianship	MUS1005	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N	YES		50%	50%	0%
Sound Recording and Production 1	MUS1038	1	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Ensemble Performance 1	MUS1018	1	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N		YES	20%	0%	80%
Solo Performance 2	MUS2017	2	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	20%	80%	0%
Ensemble Performance	MUS2018	2	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	20%	80%	0%
Writing about Music	MUS2043	2	20		YES	12 weeks	N	YES		100%	0%	0%
Classical Analysis	MUS2015	2	20	YES		12 weeks	N	YES		100%	0%	0%
Composition II	MUS2011	2	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	100%	0%	0%
Music Psychology	MTE2052	2	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	30%	70%	0%
Notation and Transcription	MUS2066	2	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Introduction to Arts Management	SCA2002	2	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Improvisation	MUS2050	2	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	30%	70%	0%
Disco Culture	MUS2033	2	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Scoring and Arranging	MUS2053	2	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	80%	0%	20%
Songwriting	MUS2055	2	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Composition 3a	MUS3071	3	20	YES		12 weeks	Y		YES	100%	0%	0%
Double Recital	MUS3082	3	40	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	25%	75%	0%
Dissertation	MUS3084	3	40	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	100%	0%	0%
Composition 3	MUS3087	3	40	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	100%	0%	0%
Mozart's Operas	MUS3033	3	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	50%	0%	50%
Special Project	MUS3076	3	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y	YES		100%	0%	0%
Single Recital	MUS3072	3	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	Y		YES	25%	75%	0%
Traditional Irish Music: Form, Style and Development	MUS3069	3	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	40%	10%	50%
Directed Study	MUS3099	3	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Politics in Popular Song from the French Revolution to Punk	MUS3055	3	20	YES		12 weeks	N		YES	80%	20%	0%
		3	20	YES	YES	24 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
A Night at the Opera	MUS3040	3	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%
Musical Thought and Scholarship	MUS3063	3	20		YES	12 weeks	N		YES	100%	0%	0%

Notes

MUS1017 pre-requisite: Successful audition Students may substitute up to two Level 1 modules in another subject, for which they have the necessary pre-requisites, subject to approval from their Adviser of Studies. It is not permissible to enrol on more than one Performance stream.

MUS2017 pre-requisite: MUS1017 (58% in first study and 58% overall) Students must take a) a minimum of 80 credits from MUS/MTE-code modules, or b) 60 credits from MUS/MTE-code modules and a maximum of 20 credits from SCA-code modules. Students may substitute up to two Level 2 modules in another subject, for which they have the necessary pre-requisites, subject to approval from their Adviser of Studies. It is not permissible to enrol on more than one Performance stream.

Students must take a) a minimum of 80 credits from MUS/MTE-code modules, or b) 60 credits from MUS/MTE-code modules and a maximum of 20 credits from SCA-code modules. Students must enrol on at least one Historical Topic. It is not permissible to enrol on more than two double modules or more than one Performance stream. MUS3082 and MUS3083 may not both be taken and neither may be taken with either MUS3072 or MUS3074. MUS3072 pre-requisite: 60% overall in MUS2017 and 60% for exam MUS3082 pre-requisite: 64% overall in MUS2017 and 64% for exam MUS3071 pre-requisite: 58% in MUS2011 MUS3087 pre-requisite: 62% in MUS2011 MUS3076 pre-requisite: 55% average in either MUS2041 or SCA2043. Proposal by Induction Week MUS3084 pre-requisite: Normally 62% average in either MUS2041 or SCA2043. Proposal by Induction Week